I am opening a discussion with you to better comprehend your position on banning guns and by reviewing your responses to a few questions, we may find some common ground. After you have read my questions and hopefully answered some, I will undertake to answer any questions you may have regarding my strong belief in the right of law abiding citizens to own firearms.

Do you believe

1)……..that mankind in their natural state* exists in Freedom or Slavery?

2)……..the government is always honest with the people?

3)..……that the mainstream media are always honest in reporting the facts to the people?

(For example * Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, USA professors state that 2.5 million times per year citizens use their firearms to defend themselves. The overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will kill or wound his/her attacker.)

4) …….that, (as per our Constitution) “We the People of NSW…Qld..Vic..” are the sovereign power that appoints our governments, or are our governments rightfully set over us as ‘Our Masters’?

5) ……..that all people should be equal before the law of our land, and that the powers of the government are delegated from the populace “We the people”, so government cannot have more powers than those who appoint them? Alternatively, you might believe that are the Governments a rightfully a power unto themselves and can lawfully employ police to carry all types of arms so they can disarm the law abiding people at gun point?

6) ……..that in man-kinds natural state a human can defend their families lives against wild animals, or wild people who seek to eat or destroy them, with tools suitable for that defence?

7) …….. that government has the moral and constitutional power to force law abiding people to be defenceless, when it acknowledges that police cannot/won’t defend them, (phone 000 and die waiting). While the State and Federal politicians spend millions of tax payers dollars for their own personal defence?

8) ……………that prohibitions on alcohol, drugs, are not successful, and that criminals can always gain access to almost any weapon for the specific purpose of using weapons against defenceless people?

9) ……..that it is better for a person to be raped and murdered, rather than allowing them to defend themselves with a firearm?

10) ……that people have a right to oppose criminals stealing from their homes or livelihoods, as without food and shelter their own lives would be in extreme peril, in the same way that free people have a right to defend their produce from preying animals?

11) ……..that the State cannot have more power than the people who appointed it so that when it sends armed men to take a firearm from a law-abiding individual, who has committed no crime, the government is committing property theft.

12) ………. that there are thousands of instances where people have been wounded or killed after having dialled 000. If a criminal is already inside your house, garage, or car, is dialling 000 really the most effective way of saving you, or your families lives?

13) …. …..the theory that gun control decreases crime, if this is valid why is Britain experiencing an epidemic of gun-related violence? (See http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/gun)

14) Gun control laws did not prevent the recent tragedy of two massacres in Paris, France. If you were huddled on the pavement outside a restaurant waiting for a Terrorist with a machine gun to come on over and put a few bullets in your back would you prefer to be saved immediately by a law abiding citizen carrying a concealed firearm, or would you prefer to wait 25 minutes for the police to arrive and cart away your body in a plastic bag?

I do appreciate your thoughts on these matters and look forward to your reply. I am committed to answering every question you send me by giving each one careful attention and a thorough, intelligent reply as soon as possible. If you pose a question I cannot intelligently address, I will research and reply with my answer.

* Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun,” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, 1:164. Dr. Kleck is a professor in the school of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He has researched extensively and published several essays on the gun control issue. His book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, has become a widely cited source in the gun control debate. In fact, this book earned Dr. Kleck the prestigious American Society of Criminology Michael J. Hindelang award for 1993.

But Lets All Try to Wake Them UP . Send this in a message to your antiFirearm friends. ron

Orlando. Our Point of View.
(This might seem repetitive, or jumbled, but it seems to be needed to stress the principles of Freedom.)

The Age Old War, the Rights of the State versus the Rights of the Individual.

Most of us believe that we have the right to defend our families and ourselves, with firearms suitable proficient to fulfil that need. We call that a “Right of the Individual” our opposition, Gun Control groups believes the total reverse of that individual Right. They believe that the State has a Greater Right than the individual, as it is a collective right of many over the few. The right of the many to feel safe because no one is allowed to have a firearm except for the Police and Army. They believe that the State should have firearms as they need them, to disarm the individuals who own firearms and that anyone who does not bow down to their philosophy, is a gun carrying dangerous criminal, that has to be arrested by the State Police.

Firearm Owners Protect Those That Don’t.

Law Abiding Firearm Owners do not have this totalitarian policy and are quite content for those who don’t want to own firearms, those who don’t want to have them in their houses, to freely have the benefit of having armed neighbours that can protect them when they need it and by owning firearms in a situation where the real criminals do not know who has guns and who does not, give their neighbours the benefit of that free protection.

Now they Know Who is Defenceless.

This point has been lost to a large degree as since the beginning of this Century our States have been entering all information concerning Licenced Shooters and their registered firearms on Crimtrac a huge data base that is available to any crooked policeman or police employee in the world, via Interpol to sell to the real Criminal elements within our society. It also informs them of which residencies are un armed. The Gun Control Inc members that might number at best 20, have always presumed that the majority of people believed in their point of view, due to the main stream media regularly taking their side by pushing for State control over the individual. Well that idea has recently suffered a huge blow as the 2014/15 Annual Report of Crimtrac puts the number of licenced firearm owners at just under two million and the number of registered firearms at five million with an annual increase of 37% so a year later all of these figures will be increased. This is over 15 % of the voting population, these people also have wives and husbands, families and friends, all of a sudden the Individuals are a new majority as if they vote together they can make or break any political movement in this country as that figure is greater than the swinging vote.

Firearm owners have not yet organised to use this voting power, the anti firearm people who believe they have the moral high ground would scream blue murder if they did, while correctly Firearm Owners, have every right to stand up for their individual rights.

Who is Right?If we did not have the right to life, the State could use us as it saw fit and dispose of us, in an industrial way as did the Japanese to the Chinese and the Germans to the Jews and others in World War Two. I presume that the anti firearm people would object to that policy and would agree that we human individuals have a right to life, as to propose that we do not have that Right destroys their own right to life. Of course we have religious and political ( Islam) extremists who believe that only they, have a right to life and everyone else can be disposed of, at a whim, but as they need firearms to take that right, they are not the counterbalance to this debate.

The life within a human body is only valuable if it has a mind that thinks and absorbs information, so any attack on the mind is just as detrimental as a attack to the body. So any diminishment of censorship, or freedom to think and speak out and call your Prime Minister a traitor to his country is a attack on the free mind, within the body. We cannot have a life if we are not free to exercise our minds with incoming and out going information. We also have a right to work and to feed our families, as without that right you and your families would die and lose the right to life. Hopefully you can see by now how all of our Rights are enter twined and dependent on one another. If we call the right to life the first Right the second right has to be the Right to defend it. If we have a right to have a thinking mind then that mind has a right protect it self. The mind shares the body so it is clear that any threat to either, is detrimental to the life within. All human rights that can be enjoyed are destroyed by death, so it is a Right to be able to fight to preserve that life. It is the primary right of every member of the human race. When the human life is under threat of extinction, it has the Right to defend it and protect it with any means at its disposal, the fists, the fingernail, the screams, or a tool like a knife or a firearm. If this is not allowed then all other rights are meaningless.

Gun Free Zones Remove Rights To Life.

The people in the Orlando Night Club were denied this right, as the area was a Gun Free Zone so they had no chance to defend themselves against a licensed security guard, who as a Muslim believed he had a right to kill them all. As a licenced Security Guard he could acquire any firearm he wanted, but the patrons in this Gun Free Zone due to this pacifistic reliance of State Security died defenceless. When the right to defend oneself is removed our society is in a stage of collapse. Living in fear of losings ones life and property is not Liberty, or freedom it is slavery to a perversion of what was once Justice. Human beings do not exist for the purpose of sacrificing their own lives. Without the right of self and family defence and the tools to accomplish that, then we have no rights at all. To deny us these rights is the worst kind of crime against the laws of human rights. Without that we are all disposable slaves. You chose your own path.

Print off a (Hard Copy) parliamentary petition form to fill in at your Gun shop, or shooting range and forwards it back by post to Ron Owen at 24 Mc Mahon Rd, Gympie, 4570 before the 14th February 2015. So they can be delivered to the Queensland Parliament by MP Tony Perret. (Tony is sponsoring this petition)
Download .pdf file here.Petition Hard Copy

E. Petition Please Sign Now. Share it to all of your friends and family.

Licensed shooters request representatives vote against any further impositions, or adverse changes of categories in Weapons Act 1990.

State and territory Police Ministers are being canvassed right now for their support to reclassify Lever Action firearms from Category A to Cat B, Cat B to Cat C and Cat D. If your firearm is reclassified to either Cat C or Cat D you will be forced to surrender it. By the legal mechanism of changing Categories instead of “banning” they are effecting the same result without paying compensation.

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY WRITTEN TO YOUR LOCAL MP & THE PREMIER, THERE’S STILL TIME!

You can see a list with contact details of all Queensland State MP’s here:

I am totally dissatisfied with the un-democratic way in which the Labour Police Minister has failed to consult with the Firearms Owners of this state regarding adding further impositions to the ‘COAG’ National Firearm Agreements.

This blatantly dictatorial approach to government has caused great anger in the Firearms Community. A community, by the way, which represents over 15% of Queensland voters and is growing rapidly!

Our Members of Parliament, are supposed to consult and represent the will of the electorate to the House of Representatives.

We object to any further impositions on licensed firearm owners, or any reclassification of firearms categories and we pledge not to vote, ever again, for any Member of Parliament, or their political party that does!!!

……………………………. Full Name

……………………………..Date

…………………………….Signature

……………………………… Address

DON’T FORGET TO PUT YOUR OWN ADDRESS DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM…….. IT WON’T BE ACCEPTED OTHERWISE!
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Scapegoat’, or ‘Whipping Post’

We were the well behaved ‘Scapegoat’, or ‘Whipping Post’ in 1996 and 2003. Never Again

We law abiding firearm owners are Not going to be the sacrificial “Whipping Post”, Again!

They use ‘Gun Control’ as a tool to Make Innocents Pay the Price for the Guilty.
Why should we pay the price for their inability to police Islamic terrorists?
Why should we pay the price for their ‘anything goes’ immigration policy?
Why should we pay the price for their failed multicultural policy?
Immigration with assimilation works, a nation within our nation does not work, either they accept our Australian Constitution and its laws and take the Oath required by that Constitution, or leave.

OATH.

I, ………., do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second , Her heirs and successors according to law. SO HELP ME GOD!

Being faithful and bearing true allegiance to the crown means accepting the crowns laws, the laws of Australia, it means accepting our flag and our traditions. If they will not take that oath they should leave on the next flight out, or walk the plank and take swim back to where ever they came from.

“What has this got to do with us?”

In the midst of media demands for gun bans after the Muslim attack on a NON Halal Chocolate café in Sydney, a good friend of mine asked the most fundamental question: ” what’s this got to do with us?” When you think about it, as a peaceable, law-abiding firearm owner, it is a profound question that applies to many media-intensified tragedies, as well as to the Muslim Gang criminal violence in many cities. “What has this got to do with us?” The answer to that question is all-powerful: “Not a single thing!” As members of Firearm Associations, we are nearly a million lawful Australians among the unknown millions of citizens who own firearms, who might not be so lawful.

We are not criminals. Our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness and our exercise of our British Bill of Rights of 1689 has nothing whatsoever to do with crime. Yet the gun-banners often seem to equate our pursuit and the armed protection of our homes, families and communities with the actions of violent criminals. Many firearm owners have come to believe that so-called “gun control” is nothing more than an attempt to make the innocent pay the price for the guilty. Almost immediately after any violence even with knives our politicians are trumpeting demands for more gun control, specifically banning selected firearms from our firearm storage safes, which they made us acquire. The Muslim who perpetrated the Sydney Chocolate Siege had no licence, an illegal un registered firearm, and a criminal record so long, he should have been deported ten years back.

Monsters In Waiting.
Some other recent murderers have had no previous criminal or mental health record and, therefore, could have cleared all the Crim Trac and Interpol investigations and then joined the police force. Then they would have been issued with firearms, yet instead like many Islamic terrorist they could use knives, meat cleavers, or as in one recent case an illegal handgun given, or sold to them by a policeman. The latest addition as well as being glorified in live TV on-the-scene broadcast, the Islamic killers make videos of their crimes and post it on Facebook. One sent his manifesto to the ABC News saying, as a Muslim, he was trying to start a “Religious race war.” They are ‘monsters’ in waiting until the fateful day they are activated by their controllers. No, Crimtac or background check system can measure evil intent. Proponents of such measures the media and gun-ban politicians prove seemingly unable to differentiate between good and evil. They apparently cannot face the fact that there are bad people in this world. You cannot “prevent” evil. You can’t keep anything “out of the wrong hands” any more than you can keep evil thoughts out of anyone’s mind.

BLAMED AGAIN.
Every time, in the wake of tragedy, you and I are called on to be ‘blamed’. For the criminal acts of sociopaths, we are supposed to accept “responsibility.” “Responsibility.” That word has crept into the gun-ban lexicon to join the focus-group-tested, feel-good terms like “common sense” and “reasonable.” When the gun-ban crowd and their media co conspirators use that word, it doesn’t mean what it means to most of us now. When criminals commit violence, they are responsible individually under the law. Are they NOT?

Collective “Responsibility”?
Not in the media gun-ban playbook. When gun-banners, such as billionaires like Clive Palmer, George Sorus or Michael Bloomberg, or their minions ‘Gun Control Australia’ use the words, they are talking about collective “responsibility”, blame and guilt for all who peaceably exercise freedom, but apparently none for individual criminals for their acts of violence. This has been a gigantic shift to a what was called the best legal system in the world, instead of hundreds of years of individual responsibility for crime, now every law abiding firearm owner in Australia is responsible for all and every misdeed by any criminal who commits murder. Yet, our politicians reiterate regularly “that we cannot discriminate against Muslims for the actions of a few”. Why are they not collectively responsible like us? Why are they not being discriminated against? Why are they not suffering the loss of rights, the loss of property, the loss of their hobbies, the loss of their livelihood, the loss of the ability to defend themselves?

We Are Left Defenceless.
In Israel when they are being attacked by this same group, the citizens are encouraged to carry loaded firearms. This has recently saved many lives in Jerusalem. However, in Australia our government legislates to ensure we wear seatbelts, it legislates to ensure we wear crash helmets while we ride a bicycle, but legislates to ensure we cannot even defend ourselves in our own homes.

Surely this prompts huge questions, please ask your local members of parliament, both State and federal why are our taxes being used to discriminate and penalize the best behaved law abiding firearm owners within our community?

FOAA Submission to COAG National Firearms Agreement To THE HON MICHAEL KEENAN MP Minister for Justice Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Counter-Terrorism On the National Firearms Agreement.
Please Click the link below to read the submission.

This is the Ministers Press Release He admits the Martin Place Siege Joint Commonwealth Review recommends a simplification of the legal firearm market. Then he and other government ministers clamour for further impositions. Ron “As you may be aware, the update of the technical elements of the National Firearms Agreement stems from a recommendation in the Martin Place Siege Joint Commonwealth – New South Wales review, specifically that ‘the Commonwealth, States and Territories should simplify the regulation of the legal firearms market through an update of the technical elements of the National Firearms Agreement.'” “This recommendation recognises that the National Firearms Agreement was written in 1996 and as such, may not accurately reflect the current operation of the legal firearms market. The Firearms and Weapons Policy Working Group, which is chaired by my department and includes representatives from each State and Territory, is currently working to identify those areas of the National Firearms Agreement that would benefit from being updated. As part of this process a broad range of stakeholders will be consulted, including the firearms community (industry and recreational groups) and other relevant community organisations. Thank you again for writing on this matter. Yours sincerely” Michael Keenan

The Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships 2015 was a huge success. So successful, that it makes it very difficult to apportion the precedence of benefits and accolades. Overall, the beneficiaries were the hunters and shooters of Queensland, the food producers of Queensland, (from the loss of 660 feral pigs), and the firearm and hunting accessories industry which would benefit from the flow on of the interest in hunting. $30,000. Worth of prizes and cash were raised with nearly $10,000 of cash donated to the ‘Wandering Warriors’ SAS (Queensland) . $40,000 plus was raised with very few costs due to the fantastic efforts of the volunteers.

11 tons of sleeping pigs, waiting for more bed fellows.

For too many years we have been the under -dogs, we have been pushed into the darkness, we need to struggled for recognition in the hearts and minds of real Australians. These ‘win’ ‘win’ activities proving how we constantly benefit Australia’s future are the way forward.

Steve Lee singing his famous “I like Guns”. In front of the Gympie Times Raffle Drum.

The media support was enormous, and their surveys showed a 97% support for the efforts and even suggested that the event should be held four times a year to eradicate the doomsday menace.

This is part of the message I delivered at the Prize Giving.

“The issues are.

We have an unalienable, or God Given Right to hunt on crown, or public land. In Queensland that Right is denied to us,

We have an unalienable, or God Given Right to defend our lives, our homes, our crops, our produce, our property from all encroachers both Animal and human. In Queensland that Right is denied to us.

95% of their brothers and sisters are protected in our National Parks and Public Land, but they eat our Farmers out of house and home.

We are again facing encroachments on our inalienable, or God Given Right to own property, our lever action shotguns. Leaving us further down the disarming track.

95 % of these Feral Pigs live in our public land. (Where we are not allowed to hunt)

Last year the Government told us that we had 24 million in Australia with at least a 2.1 ratio increase that over doubles their population every year, this year we have 50 million plus, even though we can deduct the 660 or so that we processed to day. Next year 100 million, the government has no real answer it cannot afford to pay for their destruction and as usual is in effective and in efficient in handling this critical problem for Australia. Slowly but surely we are bringing attention to this Doomsday problem.”

Next year they will have 100 million cousins eating Australia’s environment. They will win access for hunters for us.

Here is a message of support from Audie Moldre the CEO of the Wandering Warriors, SAS Queensland.

Hi Ron

The ‘speech’ I made at the QLD Big Boar Competition presentations wasn’t scripted, it was off the cuff. Here’s what I would say in relation to Wandering Warriors and your event:

Wandering Warriors is very grateful to the Queensland Big Boar Competition and particularly to Ron Owen, who is the driving force behind the generous donation of all the shooters. We support the competition that supports us because the participants are exercising their right to engage in this sport, and are doing a community service at the same time in trying to keep down the numbers of these destructive feral pests. That’s a win-win as far as we’re concerned.

Wandering Warriors continues to assist Australian Defence Force veterans and their families. We have distributed nearly $200,000 since the inception of our organisation in 2013. As veterans make that difficult transition out of the military, they need community backing on top of the support provided by the ADF and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Comprehensive solutions to the needs of the wounded, the injured and the ill require more than rehabilitation. Rehabilitation has to be coupled with education and employment opportunities to ensure the solutions are lasting ones. Wandering Warriors has recently partnered with the University of Queensland Business School to provide degree courses to selected veterans. We also have some announcements that we hope to make soon about a couple of significant Australian companies are going to provide education and work opportunities for veterans.

We’re proud of our record so far, as a group of volunteers and veterans ourselves. We’re also proud to be associated with an event such as the Queensland Big Boar Competition. Ron Owen and his competitors have been with us almost from the birth of Wandering Warriors, and we look forward to growing bigger and better together.

Kind regards

Audie

Audie Moldre Chief Executive Officer www.wanderingwarriors.org

Audie Moldre at the Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships 2015

———————-

This is part of the message I delivered at the Prize Giving.

Well thank you, ALL, none of this not one iota of it would happen, if it was not for human generosity, well except for , paying Bunnings for tags and zip ties, the super market for serviettes and tomato sauce and the hire company to clean out the mobile toilet, everything else, has been kindly donated, all the work by all these willing volunteers has generously donated, the fantastic performers have open heartedly donated their services and even the Media, the local paper have been charitable and given us a very fair hearing on these important issues.

Ron reading out the list of fantastic prizes to be awarded to each of the many winners.

With the donations of the sponsors the hunters are encouraged to participate and receive some reward for their annual and ongoing service to this country, and 100 % of the proceeds goes to another separate, but just as worthy cause the ‘Wandering Warrior”s in our past and In todays troubled world Australia faces other external Foe’s and we have to “Salute their sacrifice” We have to pay back and salute that sacrifice, just a tiny tinsie little back to help our Veterans. Even if we had a billion dollars it would never compensate for a moment, or the lack of that moment, to the bereaved or those suffering. Thank you ALL for nominating, buying shirts, raffle tickets, food and other goods thank you for your efforts in raising this amount of money. (Thats where the $10,000 that this event raised for the Wandering Warriors comes from)

Audie Moldre with the Military Brotherhood, who sold us thousands of brilliant doughnuts.

Thank you for forwarding the Ministerial Response, with having to write a petition and use only 250 words it was impossible to present all the facts to table before parliament. I had to presume that the Minister and parliament knew the law, as it had voted on those laws. When a Minister obviously, as stated, acting with advice from their Ministry misinforms parliament as to its laws and to their application, (as this is a grave Ministerial sin, sometimes called Contempt of Parliament) a petitioner should have a mechanism of recourse. Surely as I have been personally mentioned in this response to Parliament, justice should ensure that I have at least a right of reply. With a normal defamation, like this response document I could have recourse to the Courts but under the privilege of parliament and the Bill of Rights of 1689 the elected representatives have immunity.

“That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”

So Parliament is my only recourse to fairness.

If Parliament then finds that it has been misinformed, it then can at least take action and prosecute people to remedy, ensuring that government departments do not make too much of a habit of it. Besides, this response misinforming Parliament, it has tried to misinformed the 2272 petitioners who have experienced this ongoing problem and those who hoped for a remedy from this house.

1. The Minister states,

“I am advised the requirement to have a PTA generally for each transaction involving a firearm is mandated in Queensland legislation as a result of the 1996 National Firearms Agreement (NFA). Resolution 7 (a) states “that a separate permit be required for the acquisition of every firearm.”

Mandate, but not Written.

Mandate, is not law, Agreement is not law, the people who represent us are supposed to consult with there constituents before voting on legislation, Queensland is not governed by Mandate. Queenslanders have not agreed to this Mandate. Nor has this house of parliament legislated to impose two systems of control over law abiding licenced people, it only legislates for one. An either, or. ‘Police Policy’ imposes both.

The last person to hold a Mandate over us was King John and that was changed at Runnymeade, in 1215 when the foundation document of parliaments, the First Magna Carta was signed.

The NFA Agreement was never agreed to by a majority of the people of Queensland, or a majority of their representatives.

2. The Minister states,

“Since that time there have been regular meetings between State Police Ministers and the

Commonwealth Attorney-General on the provisions of this agreement and there has not

been any indication that any jurisdiction wishes to change or amend this aspect of the

legislation.“

This statement is incorrect in fact and totally misleading,

a) the petition did not ask for the legislation to be changed,

b) the meeting of State Police Ministers and the Commonwealth Attorney-General should have no bearing or input into the plus or minus of Queensland legislation, we do not vote for those other people we vote for our representatives in the house that is why it is called the House of Legislature, or the Legislative Assembly. The people of Queensland should suggest to the crown Queensland’s laws, our sovereignty should not be given away.

c) The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, on Ability of Australian law enforcement authorities to eliminate gun-related violence in the community. They met over an 18 month study and investigated over 400 submission, including submission from every State police force. In April 2015 it gave its findings in Commonwealth of Australia document ISBN 978-1-76010-187-9. (See Below)

The findings by the majority of Senators was best finalised by their Recommendation 5

“1.225 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend State and territory governments investigate avenues to deregulate the firearm industry to ease the economic burden on governments, industry and legal firearm users.”

You will notice that this is diametrically opposite to the misinformation given by the Minister.

d) The Minister states, “The PTA application process has been successful in limiting the numbers of firearms in the community to those that are considered necessary”. Charging a licence fee for the person and then charging $34. per firearm each time, by those that consider it necessary to charge some and not others, by an admitted “Police Policy”, is a fine with out conviction of a court, and totally illegal and void. See Bill of Rights 1689

An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject

“made of fines and forfeitures before any conviction or judgment against the persons upon whom the same were to be levied; All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm;” “That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;“.

3.The Minister states, “the petition questions the necessity for a Permit to Acquire (PTA) system.” It does not.

It states, “ by immediately instructing the Queensland Police to cease the duplication of an unnecessary imposition of the PTA system and allow licensed shooters to acquire the firearms in the category they are licensed for.“

4. It is the Minister who has raised that question, the petitioners would not have signed the petition if they considered that is was necessary, or if it was questionable.

Throughout the Ministers response she goes to great lengths to state that the Weapons Act 1990 Section 38 to 48 specifies and impose the PTA system on each Acquisition, sale and disposal of a firearm but on any basic perusal it does not do that.

Section 38 controls who can endorse a PTA

Section 39 limits who a PTA can be issued to

Section 40 Only in the approved form

Section 41 An officer can make enquiries

Section 42 an Authorised Officer decides application

Section 43 Only issued on approved form

Section 44 Notice of Rejection of PTA

Section 45 Term of permits existence

Section 46 Reporting loss or theft of PTA

Section 47 Replacing a PTA

Section 48 Surrender of a PTA. Acquisition, sale and disposal of a firearm.

Nowhere in these sections does the legislation impose the PTA on each and ever acquisition, sale and disposal of a firearm. In Section 35 it gives three Options a, b, and c, Option b is the PTA, and option c is the lawful authority (as defined in 49A) as the licence in the correct category.

5. In a letter on 30th April 2015 to Ronald Owen, the Honourable Jo-Ann Miller MP, Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services and Minister for Corrective Services, the PTA system is implemented by “Police Policy” quote

“Weapons Licensing Branch implemented a policy in 2013 in relation to the transfer of firearms from a deceased estate. This policy allows for weapons to be transferred without the need for a permit to acquire”. Quote

Section 35(1)(c) of the Weapons Act 1990 allows a person to acquire a weapon under other

lawful authority, justification or excuse, for example a beneficiary of an estate. Other examples that allow the transfer of firearms to an individual without the need of a permit to acquire are:

• The transfer of firearms from one licence to another of the same individual on a Form 4E;

• The transfer of firearms from a deceased estate;

• The replacement of stolen firearms; and

• A warranty replacement of firearms from a dealer.”

6. The Minister states in her response on page 2,

“The Authorised Officer, QPS Weapons Licensing, has instituted a policy of a like for like or warranty replacement of firearms at licensed firearms dealers in Queensland.”

And

“Declarations have also been made under the provisions of Section 168B of the Act (Amnesty Declaration), to allow firearms dealers to receive surrendered firearms during the period of the amnesty.” However, no amendments were made to the Weapons Act 1990 or the Regulations to suspend any Sections that specifically imposed the PTA system for the 2 month period when Dealers were allowed to register 22,000 firearms to licensed shooters, forwarding that information to QPS in the normal way. No amendments were necessary as legislation does not impose it, as admitted above “ The Authorised Officer QPS….has instituted a policy”.

7. By this admission it is plain that if “Police Policy“, can excuse the PTA imposition in these cases due to the lawful authority they can excuse it in any circumstance. If the Police Commissioners Register per Section 49 of the Act knows circumstances of why a need cannot be satisfied in some other way from a deceased estate, or the 22000 that were registered by Dealers to licenced Shooters, in the few months of the last Amnesty, due to Section 35 (1) ( c) allowing other lawful authorities, (The Shooters Licence) then the Queensland Police will be very busy charging the good people who have followed the Police instructions. The Dealer is still restricted and obligated to record and report all transaction details required by Section 49 to the QPS within 14 days.

The 22000 that were registered in the last Amnesty by Queensland Dealers were dealt with by Section 35 (1) ( c) and 49 A of the Weapons Act of 1990 and returned to the licensed owners of that property.

8. Section 3 and 4 Weapons Act, again does not impose the PTA system, “of the Possession of a Firearm is the point of these two sections the strongest being Section 4.

“(c) requiring each person who wishes to possess a firearm under a licence to demonstrate a genuine reason for possessing the firearm;

The Licenced Shooter has to complete a safety/legislation course, make an application, pay hundreds of dollars and forefill all the required questions with written and printed evidence of a genuine need in each category he/she is licenced for. This often takes up to 7 months. To then impose, immediately after another 28 day cooling off period and payment of another $34. and a repetition of his genuine need reasons is an insult.

It is also contrary to the Bill of Rights. “That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;”. The good exemplary citizens, do not deserve to be fined, when they have done no wrong, fined every time they want to purchase, or lawfully transact their own property, that is a firearm. See Thoburn vs City of Sunderland, the decision commonly referred to as the “Metric Martyrs” Judgment. This was handed down in the Divisional Court (18th February 2002) by Lord Justice Laws and Mr Justice Crane:

9. The defamation by the Minister of all Licensed Shooters including myself as the person named in the response, by her answer to our humble request ” the need to ensure public and individual safety, and that public and individual safety is improved by imposing strict controls on the possession of weapons.” Is insinuating, that hundreds of thousands of Queenslands Law abiding licensed shooters like myself are a Danger to the Community, and have to respond to this false danger by imposing further strict controlsis derogatory, disparaging and slander, as a private citizen I do not have to prove malice, to have my reputation impugned by false statements disregarding my rights. I should have legal recourse, but in this instance justice can only be served by my application to Parliament.

See Bill of Rights 1689.

“That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.“

10. This Defamation is false as there is no evidence to support the Minister’s allegation that I, or the other licenced shooters in Queensland are a danger to the Queensland community.

In fact, the reverse is true, licensed shooters have to have be the most dependable citizens who have exemplary conduct and the records show that to be the case in every State of Australia. As evidence to this fact we refer the Parliament of Queensland to these excepts from the following document.THE EVIDENCE.

The Senate, Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee

Ability of Australian law enforcement authorities to eliminate gun-related violence in the community.

April 2015. Commonwealth of Australia 2015 ISBN 978-1-76010-187-9

Chapter 4

ADDITIONAL REMARKS

1.152 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry welcome the Chair’s comments that it was not the intention of the inquiry to target law-abiding firearms owners through this inquiry. The Committee heard evidence that lawful use of firearms has a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits to the Australian community which deserve to be promoted to counteract the myths about them which are perpetuated by some in the community.

1.153 One of the difficulties encountered by this inquiry has been the inability of the Committee to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, where the majority of the illicit guns originate and the size of the illegal gun market.

1.154 Notwithstanding that difficulty, the evidence provided by witnesses including law enforcement agencies, confirmed that most guns used in the commission of crime do not originate from licensed firearm owners.

1.155 No case was made to the committee for any increased regulation around gun ownership laws. In particular there was no evidence to show that:

* banning semi-automatic handguns would have any material effect on the number of illegally held firearms in Australia;

* stricter storage requirements and the use of electronic alarm systems for guns stored in homes would have any impact on gun-related violence; and

* anomalies in federal, state and territory laws regarding the ownership, sale, storage and transit across state boundaries of legal firearms has any material impact on gun-related violence in the community.

Misinformation not helpful

1.157 Despite the acknowledged deficiencies in the data available, the Chair of the inquiry has unfortunately made comments in the media about the size of the illegal gun market and its impact on crime in the community. Many of the claims made were not substantiated by the evidence to the inquiry, particularly regarding the source of illegal guns and legal gun owners in Australia.

1.158 Claims made in the media by the Chair, which The majority of Senators attending the inquiry believe are not substantiated by the evidence, include:

*most illegal guns are not trafficked into Australia, but stolen from registered owners; and

*many illicit firearms are actually stolen from legitimate sources or taken from the grey market, including the gun used in the Sydney siege.

1.159 The hypothesis that illegal guns are mainly stolen from registered gun owners was not supported by the evidence presented to the Committee.

1.161 The Sporting Shooter’s Association of Australia asserted that the data presented by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) and Australian Crime Commission (ACC) are unreliable because they:

* have been supplied, unintentionally, with data, contaminated at best, and rubbish at worst, from South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria,

*skewing results and leading to a misunderstanding of the legal and illegal firearms landscape.

155 Media Release, The Hon. Jason Clare MP, Final Report of the National Investigation into the Illegal Firearms Market, 29 June 2012.

156 National Firearm Dealers Association Inc., Submission 85, p. 6.)

whether a third of these firearms can be classed as illicit considering 33.5 per cent of the traces had an unknown method of diversion due to insufficient information.

1.165 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry agree with Mr Rossi, President of the National Firearms Dealers Association:

Policy and research ought to be underpinned by comprehensive, accurate, verifiable and transparent data. We believe that any policy based inquiry must be built on these foundations. In the case of firearm and shooter issues, this is not the case. That includes the issues that are the subject of this inquiry.

1.166 Accordingly it is not advisable for the Committee to make any recommendations based on flawed evidence. Further developments in policy should be focussed on further research in this area.

Data Deficiencies – Theft of firearms

1.167 The data on the number of stolen firearms provided by the AIC is dependent on the reliability of data provided to it by the state authorities, which cannot be relied upon for the following reasons:

*Some jurisdictions did not provide data for all collection years or did not provide the full complement of data requested for individual years. For example, the data for stolen firearms excludes Western Australia for 2007-08;

*Victoria inadvertently recorded firearm parts as actual stolen firearms; and

* The numbers were inverted by accident to read 41 300 handguns rather than 14 300 being licensed in South Australia.

1.168 There was no evidence presented to the Committee which demonstrated a significant problem with stolen firearms being used for criminal activity:

*Data provided by state and territory police indicated that firearms from a very small percentage of theft incidents (less than 5 per cent) reported in the four year period 2005-06 to 2008-09 were subsequently used to commit a criminal offence or found in the possession of a person charged with a non-firearm related criminal offence; and

(157 Media Release, The Hon. Jason Clare MP, Final Report of the National Investigation into the Illegal Firearms Market, 29 June 2012.

* there are very few firearms that have been stolen and subsequently used in illegal acts or established as coming from a pathway from a registered firearm owner, through theft, into a recorded crime.

1.169 During the public hearing, Dr John Lott gave evidence in relation to an AIC report which showed that one in every 2500 guns were stolen, a rate of four hundredths of one per cent. Of the 664 guns stolen as described in the report, three were used in the commission of a crime. Dr Lott argued that by any measure the costs of firearms regulation greatly outweighs any expected benefits.

1.170 According to the ACC an average of 1545 firearms per annum was reported stolen during the period 2004-05 to 2008-9. The majority of reported stolen firearms are rifles, followed by shotguns. Handguns generally make up less than 10 per cent of stolen firearms.

1.171 The committee heard that even though the current price of an illegal handgun was up to $15 000, there had been no rise in gun thefts from licensed gun owners.

The Law Enforcement Response to Illegal Firearms

1.172 Some witnesses claimed that firearms reform in Australia over the last two decades had helped to significantly reduce the misuse of firearms with firearm related homicide in Australia down from 31.9 per cent in 1998 to 18.9 per cent in 2013.

1.173 Others asserted that similar declines had been observed in countries that did not adopt Australia’s approach to gun control, including New Zealand.

1.174 Moreover, it is noted that knives continue to be the most commonly used weapon in homicides, not guns, with 42 per cent of all homicide incidents in 2010

*11 involving knives/sharp instruments compared with 14 per cent involving the use of a firearm.

1.175 Since 1996 there has been a national approach to the regulation of firearms, resulting from the 1996 National Firearms Agreement, the 1996 Firearms Buyback, the 2002 National Firearms Trafficking Policy Agreement and the National Handgun Control Agreement.

1.176 The claim in the Attorney General’s Department submission that the lack of a uniform approach to gun control in Australia prior to 1996 was a significant factor in the diversion of firearms to the illicit market was not supported by any evidence.

1.177 There were, and still are, ample opportunities for firearms to be acquired for criminal purposes and no reason was offered to suggest how that the differences between states had ever been a major contributor to this.

1.178 Mr Tim Bannister, CEO of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, argued that the focus of the NFA was flawed:

“The concept of government registries and manually generated permits to acquire and the like is nothing more than a holdover from a time before electronic data retention, and it is not only completely ineffective but incredibly expensive to maintain. However, here in Australian the vast majority of state and federal law enforcement resources and strategies are now, and have been for the past 18 years, mistakenly focused on spending massive amounts of their time and efforts on monitoring and restricting the activities of just one sector of our society, the licensed firearms owners, which every statistic and every example show are responsible for almost no gun related violence.”

1.184 The NSW Police agreed that illegal imports contribute to the presence of firearms in the community:

The fight against illegal gun crime must start at the nation’s borders. The day to day experience of front line police in NSW suggests that the illegal importation of firearms, especially modern handguns and assault rifles, is a key driver of gun crime in NSW.

Stricter storage requirements

1.190 There was no credible evidence provided to support the conclusion that the use of electronic alarms on residential gun safes would materially enhance the security of stored firearms.

The Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits of Legal Firearm Use

1.191 The committee heard from several witnesses and received written submissions describing the wide range of benefits to the Australian community of the lawful use of firearms. Responsible recreational shooting and hunting is a culturally important activity and legitimate industry that creates jobs and injects significant funds into the economy. Farmers use firearms as a ‘tool’ of their trade for the control of pests who wreak havoc on the environment and the humane treatment of stock.

1.192 The committee did not seek to address the economics of a failure to control illicit firearms or the financial and resource costs involved in monitoring and enforcing firearms laws and their impact on legal firearms owners.

1.193 The committee heard that there is no direct mechanism for shooting groups and the firearms industry to be consulted since the abolition of the Commonwealth firearms advisory committee.

Hunting

1.194 Game hunting provides significant social and cultural benefits to our nation. An independent study by the University of Queensland demonstrates that the benefit of recreational hunting to the economy is at least $1 billion. The number of recreational hunters in Australia was calculated to be at least 200 000, but more likely 300 000.

1.195 Evidence received from the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia conservatively estimates the contributions of hunting, pest control activities, farming and the shooting sports to be between $1.25 and $1.5 billion per annum.

1.196 The Victorian Government estimates that the total economic impact of game and pest animal hunting by game licence holders in 2013 was worth $439 million to

the economy and that 60 per cent of hunting expenditure occurs in regional Victoria.

Competitive Shooting

1.197 In its submission Field and Game Australia Inc. stated that:

Participating in target shooting sports and hunting are increasing in Australia with participants coming from a wide variety of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.

1.198 Competitive shooting is a legitimate use of firearms and Australian shooters compete at Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth and world championship level. The sport requires intense training and is already heavily regulated. The Committee heard from Shooting Australia that those wishing to compete in this legitimate sport must already undergo lengthy probationary periods.

1.199 The Committee also heard that recreational shooting provides benefits for a wide variety of people including those with a disability or unable to participate in contact sports. In some disciplines women can compete on equal terms with men and the old with the young. Disabled shooters are provided with similar opportunities as their able-bodied counterparts, and compete at local, state, national and international levels. Additionally young Australian’s have established a network of young shooters, establishing a community across the country that enjoys this legitimate use of firearms.

Agricultural/Environmental Uses

1.200 The Committee heard that firearms are a very important tool in agriculture as they are used for a variety of purposes such as humanely putting down an injured animal and controlling feral pests. Creating further regulation on firearm use would be an unnecessary financial and practical burden on farmers, as described by the National Farmer’s Federation:

*there are set-up costs with access to firearms and then ongoing maintenance. Most farm businesses in Australia are small businesses. Many of them operate in a low cash environment. Particularly when things are tighter, any additional cost has an impact on the ability of the farm business to keep going. So any additional cost is a serious concern to us and our members.

1.201 Australian farmers are one of our country’s best protectors of the natural environment. Farmers in various agricultural and horticultural industries take it upon themselves to remove feral, pest species of animals including foxes, cats, wild pigs.

(180 Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Estimating the economic impact of hunting in Victoria in 2013.

wild dogs, rabbits and others. The Committee heard that the cost of pest animals to agriculture is in excess of $750 million.

1.202 Destroying these nuisance animals with firearms is far more humane than baiting or poisoning which can often take a toll on native species:

*a firearm is a necessary adjunct to rural occupations in respect of dealing with animals humanely and efficiently and we know that we cannot keep dropping increasing thousands of tonnes of poison into the environment trying to control feral animals when in fact the firearm is largely underused and underutilised.

1.203 As well as protecting our native species from predators and competition for food from introduced species, farmers are able to enjoy higher yields in both livestock and horticultural settings with the assistance of firearms.

International Comparisons

1.204 At an international level, there is no consensus on whether there exists a relationship between the level of firearm availability and firearm-related violence. Mr David Hawker pointed out that New Zealand declined the invitation to join with Australia in adopting firearms registration in 1996. Canada has since abandoned longarm registration, concluding it was not worth the cost. He agreed that neither country had seen a subsequent increase in gun related violence and stated ‘we are going to considerable expense for questionable results.

1.205 Police witnesses were unable to account for the disparity between their views on gun ownership and community safety and the record of Switzerland and Israel that have extremely high gun ownership, but low levels of gun-related crime.

New Zealand

1.206 In 1983, New Zealand moved away from the requirement to register long-arms and focus available resources upon the person making an application for a firearm licence by ensuring, as far as possible, that only fit and proper people had access to firearms. The licensing system includes background and reference checks, as well as safety training and a written test.

1.207 There are estimated to be about 1.1 million firearms in New Zealand,

*about one for every four people. The rate of deaths involving firearms has decreased in the past twenty years, including those resulting from assault, suicide, and accidents.

187 Library of Congress, Firearms-Control Legislation and Policy: New Zealand, at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/newzealand.php (accessed 9 April 2015).

1.208 Additional evidence provided to the Committee showed that violent offending with firearms remained stable in New Zealand at about 1.3 per cent of all violent offending from 1985 – 2005.

Canada

1.209 Canada has followed New Zealand’s example and focuses more on the person making an application for a licence. Canada decreased the regulatory requirements for long arms and found no subsequent increase in gun related violence. Applicants are required to pass safety tests before being eligible for a firearms license. Applicants are also subject to background checks which take into account criminal, mental health, addiction, and domestic violence records. According to 2010 data, over the past thirty years firearm-related homicides have continued to decline.

United Kingdom.

1.210 The United Kingdom has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. In 1997 the UK banned all handguns. Only police officers, members of the armed forces, or individuals with written permission from the Home Secretary may lawfully own a handgun.

1.211 The ban did not reduce the number of active shooters. Pistol clubs turned to pistol calibre carbines, which are more powerful and have higher capacity magazines. The UK has also reported an increase in homicide with pistols and in terms of crime:

“The ban on handguns is neither here nor there in the equation”.

1.212 It is reasonable to conclude that the banning of certain categories of firearm only affects those who possess and use them lawfully. Those who use them unlawfully are already outside the law.

190 Library of Congress, Firearms-Control Legislation and Policy: Great Britain, at http://www.loc.gov/law/help/firearms-control/greatbritain.php (accessed 9 April 2015).

191 Greenwood, J., The British Handgun Ban: logic, Politics and Effect, Paper to International Firearms safety Seminar, New Zealand, 2006.)

Recommendation 1

1.221 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend that the Commonwealth commission a study into the social, economic and environmental benefits of hunting across Australia, similar to the report that was released by the Victorian Government in 2013.

Recommendation 2

1.222 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth establish a formal mechanism for industry and firearm user groups to be consulted on issues relating to firearms regulation.

Recommendation 3

1.223 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth continue to pursue improvements in border control for detecting illegal imports of firearms and firearms parts.

Recommendation 4

1.224 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth review its contribution to firearms regulation in the context of the Reform of the Federation White Paper.

Recommendation 5

1.225 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend State and territory governments investigate avenues to deregulate the firearm industry to ease the economic burden on governments, industry and legal firearm users.”

Everyone really knew all that, but now a Commonwealth Senate Committee has published it. Now is the time to stop wasting resources with impositions on the lawful community and instead transfer police resources into policing the criminal elements within our society.

Brief on the Senate, Legal and Constitutional Affairs Report on Australian Gun Laws.

The Senate

Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee

‘Ability of Australian law enforcement authorities to eliminate gun-related violence in the community”

April 2015

Commonwealth of Australia 2015

ISBN 978-1-76010-187-9

Two Reports With two sets of recommendations,

One from the Chair and one from the Majority of Committee Members.

The first set of recommendations are

Recommendations From The Chair

Recommendation One

7.16 The committee recommends the Commonwealth government provide

funding to allow programs, such as the National Firearms Monitoring Program

and the National Firearm Theft Monitoring Program, and reports, such as those

in the Firearm Theft in Australia series, to continue on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation 2

7.17 The committee further recommends the Australian Institute of

Criminology conduct within three years a review of current data collection and

reporting arrangements, with a particular focus on:

the need for more accurate data on firearm thefts, the recovery of stolen

firearms and seizures of illegally imported firearms;

„ the quality and comparability of data provided to Commonwealth

agencies by state and territory police; and greater inter-agency co-operation with regards to data sharing.

Recommendation 3

7.25 The committee recommends that the National Firearms Agreement be

updated to implement nationally consistent regulation in the following areas:

firearms, firearm parts and firearm accessories; ammunition; and

the storage of firearms.

Recommendation 4

7.28 The committee recommends that the Commonwealth government,

together with state and territory governments, establish national standards for

the security of membership data held by gun clubs.

Recommendation 5

7.33 The committee recommends that an ongoing, Australia-wide gun

amnesty is implemented, with consideration given to ways in which this can be

done without limiting the ability of police to pursue investigative leads for serious

firearm-related crimes.

Recommendation 6

7.39 The committee recommends that all jurisdictions update their firearm

data holdings and ensure the data is transferred to the National Firearms

Interface.

Recommendation 7

7.44 The committee recommends that Australian governments investigate the

requirement for uniform regulations in all jurisdictions covering the

manufacture of 3D printed firearms and firearm parts.

Recommendation 8

7.48 The committee recommends that Australian governments continue to

monitor the risks posed by 3D manufacturing in relation to the manufacture of

firearms and consider further regulatory measures if the need arises.

Recommendation 9

7.51 The committee recommends that Australian governments consider

committing further funding and resourcing to assist in implementing the

preceding recommendations.

By Senator Penny Wright

Chair

Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig

Labor Senator for Queensland

(So you know who not to vote for)
—————————————

And then on page 95

Structure of the report

1.8 This report is the report of the majority Senators of the committee who

actually attended hearings and private meetings of the committee and is presented as a

majority-alternative to the Chair/Labor’s Report of the Legal and Constitutional

Affairs References Committee’s inquiry into the ability of Australian law enforcement

authorities to eliminate gun-related violence in the community.

1.9 It is endorsed by Senators from the Liberal Party, National Party and Liberal

Democratic Party, comprising a majority of those who attended the Committee’s

hearings (The Majority)

Senator the Hon Ian Macdonald

Deputy Chair

Senator Linda Reynolds

Liberal Senator for Western Australia

Senator Bridget McKenzie

Nationals Senator for Victoria

Senator David Leyonhjelm

Liberal Democrats Senator for New South Wales.

So now you know who to Vote For.

Their findings were highly critical of the recommendations of the chair and found that there was a lack of evidence to support those recommendations, they issued a new set of Recommendations which as they are the majority replace the first set.

Response to Chair’s Recommendations

1.213 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not agree with Recommendation 1 and Recommendation 2 of the Chair’s report: the AIC should not receive additional funding for further research programs.

1.214 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not agree with Recommendation 3 of the Chair’s report: these matters should remain responsibility for State and Territory governments.

1.215 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not agree with Recommendation 4 of the Chair’s report: membership data held by gun clubs should remain a responsibility of State and Territory governments.

1.216 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not agree with Recommendation 7 of the Chair’s report: new regulations do not need to be introduced to cover the manufacture of 3D printed firearms and firearm parts at this point in time.

1.217 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not support Recommendation 9 of the Chair’s report and instead urge the government to consider funding initiatives that educate the wider public on safe use of firearms.

1.218 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry support Recommendation 5 of the Chair’s report, that an ongoing Australia-wide gun amnesty could potentially reduce the number of illicit firearms in the community, especially those firearms that were not given up as part of the 1996 buyback. It is, however, noted that criminals are unlikely give up any firearms.

1.219 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry support Recommendation 6 of the Chair’s report: jurisdictions have already agreed to update their firearm data holdings and transfer it to the National Firearms Interface.

1.220 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry support Recommendation 8 of the Chair’s report and agree that it is important to continue monitoring the risks posed by 3D manufacturing of firearms

Additional. By majority of Senators attending the inquiry Recommendations

Recommendation 1

1.221 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend that the Commonwealth commission a study into the social, economic and environmental benefits of hunting across Australia, similar to the report that was released by the Victorian Government in 2013.

Recommendation 2

1.222 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth establish a formal mechanism for industry and firearm user groups to be consulted on issues relating to firearms regulation.

Recommendation 3

1.223 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth continue to pursue improvements in border control for detecting illegal imports of firearms and firearms parts.

Recommendation 4

1.224 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend the Commonwealth review its contribution to firearms regulation in the context of the Reform of the Federation White Paper.

150

Recommendation 5

1.225 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry recommend State and territory governments investigate avenues to deregulate the firearm industry to ease the economic burden on governments, industry and legal firearm users.

These recommendations relied on evidence submitted such as this.

Page 104

1.42 A number of other submissions argued the opposite, that Australia’s firearm law reforms had made no difference to the firearm death rate. Among them, Mr Tom Vangelovski noted that:

While ignoring that the overall Australian homicide rates has remained statistically stable at its historical rate since 1915, gun control advocates have claimed that homicide by firearm has decreased (implying that being murdered by other means is somehow preferable).33

1.43 He also noted:

Another important comparison is Australia’s violent crime rate to that of individual American states (Figure 4). Vermont has some of the most liberal gun laws in the US, in that they virtually do not exist. Its residents are free to own and use whatever firearms they deem necessary, so long as they are not misused for criminal purposes. However, its violent crime rates are radically lower than Australia’s Its homicide rate is the same (at 1.3 per 100.000). Overall, you are 1.5 times more likely to be the victim of a home invasion, 3.5 times more likely to be robbed, 4 times more likely to be raped and 8 times more likely to be assaulted than in Vermont.

Another interesting comparison is Texas. While its gun laws are much more liberal than Australia’s, they are slightly more stringent than in Vermont. However, even in Texas you are 2.5 times less likely to be the victim of a violent crime than in Australia.34

1.44 Dr Samara McPhedran noted :

A useful demonstration of how prohibition can be expected to impact illicit firearms use is found in the United Kingdom (UK). In 1997, the UK banned private ownership of all cartridge ammunition handguns (whether semi-automatic or otherwise).

As such, the UK provides real-world data about the impact that a ‘prohibition policy’ can be expected to have on illegal firearms use. This information is particularly valuable because it is drawn from an applied setting, rather than being based on theory or statistical modelling.

Because all legal handgun ownership was banned, rather than just certain types of handgun, the UK policy also represents a “maximum policy impact” scenario – that is, the greatest effect that could be reasonably expected to arise from prohibition.

If the policy was successful, then it would be expected that the number of recorded crimes in the UK involving the use of handguns would decline sharply after 1997.

Handgun crimes rose sharply after total prohibition of legal ownership, reaching a peak in the early 2000s. The number of handgun crimes has consistently remained higher than it was at the time of handgun prohibition.

33 Tom Vangelovski, Submission 206.

34 Dr Samara McPhedran, Submission 88.

Even allowing for the possibility of a ‘lag’ between policy implementation and policy impact, it is obvious that the prohibition policy did not impact on illicit possession and use of handguns. According to the Home Office, from 2001/2002 to 2010/2011, handguns have consistently been the most common type of firearm used in crime.35

1.45 Mr William Woolmore, a former member of the Firearms Appeals Tribunal for the Victorian Justice Department, noted:

There has been a steady decline in gun related deaths in Australia since 1980 and, as expected, the rate of decline increased marginally following the new gun laws introduced in 1996 but this was due solely to a reduction in gun suicides. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the rate of gun murders in the few years after 1996 was actually higher than the equivalent period before 1996. While gun violence has been steadily declining there has been a substantial growth in total violence, with knife murders exceeding gun murders by up to 4 to 1 in some years (The latest AIC figure given in 2013 was 47 knife and 24 gun; worth comparing with 27 children murdered by one or both of their parents).36

1.46 Dr John Lott noted:

Prior to 1996, there was already a clear downward in firearm homicides, and this pattern continued after the buyback. It is hence difficult to link the decline to the buyback.

Again, as with suicides, both non-firearm and firearm homicides fell by similar amounts. In fact, the trend in non-firearms homicides shows a much larger decline between the pre- and post-buyback periods. This suggests that crime has been falling for other reasons.

Note that the change in homicides doesn’t follow the change in gun ownership – there is no increase in homicides as gun ownership gradually increased.37

1.152 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry welcome the Chair’s comments that it was not the intention of the inquiry to target law-abiding firearms owners through this inquiry. The Committee heard evidence that lawful use of firearms has a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits to the Australian community which deserve to be promoted to counteract the myths about them which are perpetuated by some in the community.

1.153 One of the difficulties encountered by this inquiry has been the inability of the Committee to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, where the majority of the illicit guns originate and the size of the illegal gun market.

1.154 Notwithstanding that difficulty, the evidence provided by witnesses including law enforcement agencies, confirmed that most guns used in the commission of crime do not originate from licensed firearm owners.

1.155 No case was made to the committee for any increased regulation around gun ownership laws. In particular there was no evidence to show that:

banning semi-automatic handguns would have any material effect on the number of illegally held firearms in Australia;

stricter storage requirements and the use of electronic alarm systems for guns stored in homes would have any impact on gun-related violence; and

anomalies in federal, state and territory laws regarding the ownership, sale, storage and transit across state boundaries of legal firearms has any material impact on gun-related violence in the community.

1.156 It is also unfortunate that the joint report of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and NSW Premier and Cabinet on the Martin Place siege was referenced in the Chair’s report, since it was not mentioned by any witness or considered by the committee as part of this inquiry.

Misinformation not helpful

1.157 Despite the acknowledged deficiencies in the data available, the Chair of the inquiry has unfortunately made comments in the media about the size of the illegal gun market and its impact on crime in the community. Many of the claims made were not substantiated by the evidence to the inquiry, particularly regarding the source of illegal guns and legal gun owners in Australia.

140

1.158 Claims made in the media by the Chair, which The majority of Senators attending the inquiry believe are not substantiated by the evidence, include:”most illegal guns are not trafficked into Australia, but stolen from registered owners;151 and many illicit firearms are actually stolen from legitimate sources or taken from the grey market, including the gun used in the Sydney siege”.152

1.159 The hypothesis that illegal guns are mainly stolen from registered gun owners was not supported by the evidence presented to the Committee.

Data Deficiencies – The size and operation of the illicit firearms trade

1.160 The Committee heard evidence from a number of organisations in Australian jurisdictions about the size and distribution of the illegal firearms market within Australia. The lack of reliable data on the size of the illicit (or black) and grey market means that currently it is impossible to accurately assess the extent of the problem.

1.161 The Sporting Shooter’s Association of Australia asserted that the data presented by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) and Australian Crime Commission (ACC) are unreliable because they:

“have been supplied, unintentionally, with data, contaminated at best, and rubbish at worst, from South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria¡ skewing results and leading to a misunderstanding of the legal and illegal firearms landscape.153

1.162 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry do not accept evidence provided by the ACC which estimated the number of illegal firearms in the community at 260 000, including 250 000 long-arms and 10 000 handguns.154

1.163 This figure is taken from the Final Report of the National Investigation into the Illegal Firearms Market. These estimated 260 000 illicit firearms were supposedly based on a tracing analysis of 3186 weapons seized by law enforcement agencies.155

1.164 There are issues with this data that bring its reliability and validity into serious question. Firstly, this sample size was revealed to be much smaller than the ACC report first indicated based on 2119 firearms not 3186.156 In addition, it is unclear

155 Media Release, The Hon. Jason Clare MP, Final Report of the National Investigation into the Illegal Firearms Market, 29 June 2012.

156 National Firearm Dealers Association Inc., Submission 85, p. 6.

141

———————————————-

whether a third of these firearms can be classed as illicit considering 33.5 per cent of the traces had an unknown method of diversion due to insufficient information.157

1.165 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry agree with Mr Rossi, President of the National Firearms Dealers Association:

“Policy and research ought to be underpinned by comprehensive, accurate, verifiable and transparent data. We believe that any policy based inquiry must be built on these foundations. In the case of firearm and shooter issues, this is not the case. That includes the issues that are the subject of this inquiry.”158

1.166 Accordingly it is not advisable for the Committee to make any recommendations based on flawed evidence. Further developments in policy should be focussed on further research in this area.

Data Deficiencies – Theft of firearms

1.167 The data on the number of stolen firearms provided by the AIC is dependent on the reliability of data provided to it by the state authorities, which cannot be relied upon for the following reasons:

Some jurisdictions did not provide data for all collection years or did not provide the full complement of data requested for individual years. For example, the data for stolen firearms excludes Western Australia for 2007-08;159

Victoria inadvertently recorded firearm parts as actual stolen firearms;160 and

The numbers were inverted by accident to read 41 300 handguns rather than 14 300 being licensed in South Australia.161

1.168 There was no evidence presented to the Committee which demonstrated a significant problem with stolen firearms being used for criminal activity:

Data provided by state and territory police indicated that firearms from a very small percentage of theft incidents (less than 5 per cent) reported in the four year period 2005-06 to 2008-09 were subsequently used to commit a criminal offence or found in the possession of a person charged with a non-firearm related criminal offence;162 and157

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Media Release, The Hon. Jason Clare MP, Final Report of the National Investigation into the Illegal Firearms Market, 29 June 2012.

there are very few firearms that have been stolen and subsequently used in illegal acts or established as coming from a pathway from a registered firearm owner, through theft, into a recorded crime.163

1.169 During the public hearing, Dr John Lott gave evidence in relation to an AIC report which showed that one in every 2500 guns were stolen, a rate of four hundredths of one per cent. Of the 664 guns stolen as described in the report, three were used in the commission of a crime. Dr Lott argued that by any measure the costs of firearms regulation greatly outweighs any expected benefits.164

1.170 According to the ACC an average of 1545 firearms per annum was reported stolen during the period 2004-05 to 2008-9. The majority of reported stolen firearms are rifles, followed by shotguns. Handguns generally make up less than 10 per cent of stolen firearms.165

1.171 The committee heard that even though the current price of an illegal handgun was up to $15 000, there had been no rise in gun thefts from licensed gun owners.166

The Law Enforcement Response to Illegal Firearms

1.172 Some witnesses claimed that firearms reform in Australia over the last two decades had helped to significantly reduce the misuse of firearms with firearm related homicide in Australia down from 31.9 per cent in 1998 to 18.9 per cent in 2013.167

1.173 Others asserted that similar declines had been observed in countries that did not adopt Australia’s approach to gun control, including New Zealand.

1.174 Moreover, it is noted that knives continue to be the most commonly used weapon in homicides, not guns, with 42 per cent of all homicide incidents in 2010¡V11 involving knives/sharp instruments compared with 14 per cent involving the use of a firearm.168

1.175 Since 1996 there has been a national approach to the regulation of firearms, resulting from the 1996 National Firearms Agreement, the 1996 Firearms Buyback, the 2002 National Firearms Trafficking Policy Agreement and the National Handgun Control Agreement. This has led to a large degree of consistency between Australian

jurisdictions in dealing with illegal firearms. In their submission the Attorney General’s Department stated that:

the adoption of the Agreements by the States and Territories represents a significant achievement in developing a consistent national approach to the regulation of firearms and firearm-related articles.169

1.176 The claim in the Attorney General’s Department submission that the lack of a uniform approach to gun control in Australia prior to 1996 was a significant factor in the diversion of firearms to the illicit market was not supported by any evidence.

1.177 There were, and still are, ample opportunities for firearms to be acquired for criminal purposes and no reason was offered to suggest how that the differences between states had ever been a major contributor to this.170

Importation of illegal firearms

1.181 The Committee found that it was not possible to accurately assess the source of the importation of illicit firearms and firearm parts into Australia. The Government is urged to focus on continuous improvement in border control processes to assist in detecting illegal imports of firearms and firearm parts.

1.182 The recent Auditor General’s Report into the Screening of International Mail showed that screening processes may require some improvements. The Auditor General stated that:

The ANAO’s analysis of data from the agency’s sampling program indicated that around only 13 per cent of prohibited imports arriving in international mail were seized in 2012-13. Customs advised that it now considers the implementation of its sampling program was flawed, raising questions about the integrity of its sampling data.172

1.183 The Committee heard evidence from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service about its increased focus on screening international mail, air cargo and sea cargo to detect illegal imports of firearms.173

1.184 The NSW Police agreed that illegal imports contribute to the presence of firearms in the community:

The fight against illegal gun crime must start at the nation’s borders. The day to day experience of front line police in NSW suggests that the illegal importation of firearms, especially modern handguns and assault rifles, is a key driver of gun crime in NSW

1.178 Mr Tim Bannister, CEO of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, argued that the focus of the NFA was flawed:

“The concept of government registries and manually generated permits to acquire and the like is nothing more than a holdover from a time before electronic data retention, and it is not only completely ineffective but incredibly expensive to maintain. However, here in Australian the vast majority of state and federal law enforcement resources and strategies are now, and have been for the past 18 years, mistakenly focused on spending massive amounts of their time and efforts on monitoring and restricting the activities of just one sector of our society, the licensed firearms owners, which every statistic and every example show are responsible for almost no gun related violence.”

1.179 The 3D printers

1.185 Evidence was given that firearms and/or parts can be produced by a reasonably proficient handyman in his home workshop. While 3D printers may be of assistance in carrying out this task they were by no means integral to the illegal manufacture of firearms.

1.186 Evidence received by the committee indicated that Commonwealth, State and Territory laws relating to the import and manufacture of firearms or firearm parts, including by 3D printers, was sufficient to enable prosecution of any offence.

1.187 The majority of Senators attending the inquiry agrees that State and Territory governments should continue to regulate firearms but acknowledges that data sharing between jurisdictions would contribute to greater effectiveness.

Banning semi-automatic handguns

1.188 No evidence was received that banning semi-automatic handguns would have a material effect on the number of illegally held firearms in Australia or the level of gun violence. The relatively small number of handguns stolen each year, of which only a portion are semi-automatics, suggests a complete ban would make no difference to gun violence. Evidence was received that a ban on semi-automatic handguns would have a significant effect on sporting shooters including Olympic and Commonwealth Games participants.

1.189 Victoria and NSW police did not seek further regulation but wanted more resources for compliance activities. Victoria Police evidence revealed that the majority of semi-automatic handguns seized are from criminals who are prohibited from owning. It was not clear that a ban on semi-automatic handguns would diminish their ability to obtain such handguns.176

Stricter storage requirements

1.190 There was no credible evidence provided to support the conclusion that the use of electronic alarms on residential gun safes would materially enhance the security of stored firearms.177

The Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits of Legal Firearm Use

1.191 The committee heard from several witnesses and received written submissions describing the wide range of benefits to the Australian community of the lawful use of firearms. Responsible recreational shooting and hunting is a culturally important activity and legitimate industry that creates jobs and injects significant funds into the economy. Farmers use firearms as a ‘tool’ of their trade for the control of pests who wreak havoc on the environment and the humane treatment of stock.

1.192 The committee did not seek to address the economics of a failure to control illicit firearms or the financial and resource costs involved in monitoring and enforcing firearms laws and their impact on legal firearms owners.

1.193 The committee heard that there is no direct mechanism for shooting groups and the firearms industry to be consulted since the abolition of the Commonwealth firearms advisory committee.

Hunting

1.194 Game hunting provides significant social and cultural benefits to our nation. An independent study by the University of Queensland demonstrates that the benefit of recreational hunting to the economy is at least $1 billion. The number of recreational hunters in Australia was calculated to be at least 200 000, but more likely 300 000. 178

1.195 Evidence received from the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia conservatively estimates the contributions of hunting, pest control activities, farming and the shooting sports to be between $1.25 and $1.5 billion per annum.179

1.196 The Victorian Government estimates that the total economic impact of game and pest animal hunting by game licence holders in 2013 was worth $439 million to

the economy and that 60 per cent of hunting expenditure occurs in regional Victoria.180

Competitive Shooting

1.197 In its submission Field and Game Australia Inc. stated that:

Participating in target shooting sports and hunting are increasing in Australia with participants coming from a wide variety of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.181

1.198 Competitive shooting is a legitimate use of firearms and Australian shooters compete at Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth and world championship level. The sport requires intense training and is already heavily regulated. The Committee heard from Shooting Australia that those wishing to compete in this legitimate sport must already undergo lengthy probationary periods.182

1.199 The Committee also heard that recreational shooting provides benefits for a wide variety of people including those with a disability or unable to participate in contact sports. In some disciplines women can compete on equal terms with men and the old with the young. Disabled shooters are provided with similar opportunities as their able-bodied counterparts, and compete at local, state, national and international levels. Additionally young Australian’s have established a network of young shooters, establishing a community across the country that enjoys this legitimate use of firearms.

Agricultural/Environmental Uses

1.200 The Committee heard that firearms are a very important tool in agriculture as they are used for a variety of purposes such as humanely putting down an injured animal and controlling feral pests. Creating further regulation on firearm use would be an unnecessary financial and practical burden on farmers, as described by the National Farmer’s Federation:

“…there are set-up costs with access to firearms and then ongoing maintenance. Most farm businesses in Australia are small businesses. Many of them operate in a low cash environment. Particularly when things are tighter, any additional cost has an impact on the ability of the farm business to keep going. So any additional cost is a serious concern to us and our members…” 183

1.201 Australian farmers are one of our country’s best protectors of the natural environment. Farmers in various agricultural and horticultural industries take it upon themselves to remove feral, pest species of animals including foxes, cats, wild pigs,

wild dogs, rabbits and others. The Committee heard that the cost of pest animals to agriculture is in excess of $750 million.184

1.202 Destroying these nuisance animals with firearms is far more humane than baiting or poisoning which can often take a toll on native species:

…a firearm is a necessary adjunct to rural occupations in respect of dealing with animals humanely and efficiently and we know that we cannot keep dropping increasing thousands of tonnes of poison into the environment trying to control feral animals when in fact the firearm is largely under used and under utilised.185

1.203 As well as protecting our native species from predators and competition for food from introduced species, farmers are able to enjoy higher yields in both livestock and horticultural settings with the assistance of firearms.

International Comparisons

1.204 At an international level, there is no consensus on whether there exists a relationship between the level of firearm availability and firearm-related violence. Mr David Hawker pointed out that New Zealand declined the invitation to join with Australia in adopting firearms registration in 1996. Canada has since abandoned longarm registration, concluding it was not worth the cost. He agreed that neither country had seen a subsequent increase in gun related violence and stated ‘we are going to considerable expense for questionable results’.186

1.205 Police witnesses were unable to account for the disparity between their views on gun ownership and community safety and the record of Switzerland and Israel that have extremely high gun ownership, but low levels of gun-related crime.

New Zealand

1.206 In 1983, New Zealand moved away from the requirement to register long-arms and focus available resources upon the person making an application for a firearm licence by ensuring, as far as possible, that only fit and proper people had access to firearms. The licensing system includes background and reference checks, as well as safety training and a written test.

1.207 There are estimated to be about 1.1 million firearms in New Zealand—about one for every four people. The rate of deaths involving firearms has decreased in the past twenty years, including those resulting from assault, suicide, and accidents.187

148

1.208 Additional evidence provided to the Committee showed that violent offending with firearms remained stable in New Zealand at about 1.3 per cent of all violent offending from 1985 – 2005.

188

Canada

1.209 Canada has followed New Zealand’s example and focuses more on the person making an application for a licence. Canada decreased the regulatory requirements for long arms and found no subsequent increase in gun related violence. Applicants are required to pass safety tests before being eligible for a firearms license. Applicants are also subject to background checks which take into account criminal, mental health, addiction, and domestic violence records. According to 2010 data, over the past thirty years firearm-related homicides have continued to decline.189

United Kingdom

1.210 The United Kingdom has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. In 1997 the UK banned all handguns. Only police officers, members of the armed forces, or individuals with written permission from the Home Secretary may lawfully own a handgun.190

1.211 The ban did not reduce the number of active shooters. Pistol clubs turned to pistol calibre carbines, which are more powerful and have higher capacity magazines. The UK has also reported an increase in homicide with pistols and in terms of crime: ‘the ban on handguns is neither here nor there in the equation’.191

1.212 It is reasonable to conclude that the banning of certain categories of firearm only affects those who possess and use them lawfully. Those who use them unlawfully are already outside the law.

Most Australians have a connection with rural production, or are involved with industries that are either dependent, or associated with rural Australia. Many city Australians are related to, or are second generation rural Australians.
Due to these ties to the ‘land’ the benefits and problems of the land are of paramount importance to them and Australians should be concerned that last year (2014) government sources put the Australian Feral Pig population at approx 25 million.

We Have A Plague of Pigs.
Feral pigs have a reproductive rate that is closer to rabbits than other large herbivores Females can breed from seven months of age and have one, or two litters per year of four to six piglets, this easily doubles their population every succeeding year. So 50 million in 2015. The damage they cause to Australia economy is huge and realistically any statistical calculations could not cover the subject thoroughly. Combine that with the damage they do to our Australian environment/wildlife etc, the Greens should pay a bounty to Feral Pig Hunters. https://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/threats/pig.html

Foot & Mouth Could Starve Australia.
The disease risk posed by feral pigs is regarded by some as a “ticking time bomb” for Australia if a serious exotic disease gains access to the wide-ranging pig population.
The threat of an exotic disease outbreak such as Foot and Mouth Disease, to just name one, would prove terminal to much of Australia agricultural products. It is extremely important for thinking Australians to encourage the demise of Feral Pigs.

Two Great Causes.
The Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships 2015 has two main objectives;
One, to encourage the removal of as many feral pigs as possible from our environment,
Two, to raise as much money as possible for the ‘Wandering Warriors’ (SAS Queensland Association) to aid veterans and their families.(Wandering Warrior is a charity initiative of the Queensland Branch of the Australian SAS Association. Its members are veterans of Australia’s military conflicts over the past 50 years. They volunteer their time, energy and resources to conduct events which raise funds for veteran and family focussed charities. Wandering Warriors has no paid positions. With the support of corporate Australia and the Australian community, the Wandering Warriors aim to raise badly needed funds for Wounded Veterans, and their families.)

The Third Objective.
There is a third objective, that is to improve communications between hunters, political leaders, media, business people and the community in general, improving the image and opening more public and private land to hunters.
If current pledges continue to be contributed, the $30,000 dollar value of prizes will be easily surpassed. This will attract at least 500 to 600 plus nominations from hunters statewide. All of them would like to see your name in the sponsors list for these two very worthy causes that are combined in this same event.
Please accept our invitation to attend and award your prizes at the culmination, weigh in, presentation on the 12th July 2015. The Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships 2015 is a three-day hunt, with Bow, Firearm or Dogs for feral pigs, anywhere in our State .
The list of donated Prizes from Sponsors will be soon viewable on http://www.foaa.com.au/queensland-big-boar-hunting-championships/sponsors-please-support-these-worthy-sponsors/
At the 2014 Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships, last October, 342 Competitors disposed of 329 Feral pigs, (producing a body or a snout) and raised a total of $27,000 for charitable causes. Approximately, 450 people were present during the weigh- in 350 people stayed to watch the $20,000 prize giving. Prizes were awarded for heaviest Boar, Sow, Most number of pigs, Largest Tusk, Largest Pigs Ear, Longest Pig Tail.
We had two dedicated photographers for the Weigh In, who kindly donated their photos and skills free of charge Jason Harelle and Jim Sweeny. Jim Sweeny made a nice comment on Facebook.“What A Great Day , Ossie Family’s Enjoyed, The Best Event I Have Ever Been To, The First Time I Saw Wild Pigs, They Reminded Me Of Oversized Rats With Their Black Hair , Certainly Not The Domestic Breed, The Hunters Were Good Young Knock About Aussies Risking Their Lives To Rid The Land Of Vermin, I Am Very Impressed With The Hunters Who Are Australia’s ‘Salt Of The Earth’, I Will Be At Next Year Event, As This Is Too Good To Miss”.

Advertising
On Sunday the 12th July 2015 the Long Lunch will again feature a pig on a spit. Last year we received , four half page sponsorship promotion giving positive response from the Gympie Times newspaper. We received sponsorship/promotion by the Yaffa Publications magazines ‘Sporting Shooter’ and ‘Bacon Busters’, and in 2015 they have been invited to attend on the day. Also we received advertising from ‘Wild Boar Australia’ and ‘Guns and Game’ magazine We will be seeking sponsorship/promotion from National TV and they and local media will be invited to attend on the Sunday 12th weigh-in day. Last year, all the positive publicity was marvellous for the hunting sports in Australia. The facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/QueenslandBigBoarHuntingChampionshipsGympie
has had thousands of visitors, the 4 minute Video has in its different location had over 5000 viewing’s.
If you would like to contribute as a sponsor, or help in anyway please phone, or email Ron on the numbers above.

Media Mileage From Big Boar Competition 2014.Newspaper and Radio Interviews.
Here are just some of the articles from our local Newspaper and ABC radio we also made Channel7 in Brisbane and other radio interviews were broadcasted. Gympie Times said, that when the issue was put onto its website it had the most comments on any subject and 97 % were in favour of “The Queensland Big Boar Hunting Championships” even the Noosa Greens candidate supported recreational hunting as the most humane method of disposing of these Feral pests.

Farmers, Boilermakers, Shopkeepers, Dentists, Lawyers, people from varied walks of life got together to achieve something that was an all round good thing for all concerned, except the feral pigs.
Beneficiaries, were the competitors who received great prizes, over $20,000. worth, agriculture land holders who had 329 pigs removed from the breeding cycle, and the Wandering Warriors who are a 100 % voluntary organisation that raises money for Veterans and their families. Over $27000 was raised from all aspects of the event and distributed to the beneficiaries. No grants, no assistance from government, pure voluntary effort pays off.
Yours faithfully